Summit Report, Gangtok 30 Jan: In separate press statements issued today, the Sikkim unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has welcomed the recent announcement of the State Government to introduce a temporary work permit system in the State and also reassured the Sikkimese that the recent Supreme Court judgement on domicile-based reservations will not affect Sikkim.
BJP-Sikkim president, DR Thapa, in a press release issued today, argues that the Supreme Court judgment of 29 January, in the Dr Tanvi Behl vs. Shrey Goel & Ors case that has led to much consternation in social media in Sikkim, is limited to whether State Medical Colleges are permitted to grant residence-based reservation for Post Graduate courses.
“The court held that while domicile based reservation is permitted for MBBS, it is not permitted for PG courses as they are specialist courses,” Mr Thapa explains, stressing that the effect of this judgement is limited to medical PG courses in other states.
He adds that Sikkim is an “exception to the general principle [of Article 14 which guarantees equality] in the light of the non-obstante clause in Article 371F. This exception is protected by the Supreme Court itself in the case of State of Sikkim vs. Surendra Prasad Sharma and in RC Poudyal vs. Union of India. Therefore, this judgement will not affect the domicile based reservations in Sikkim.”
In another BJP press release, Sangay Gyatso Bhutia, a BJP Sikkim State executive, has welcomed the SKM government’s decision to implement a temporary work permit system at the GPU level to monitor and regulate the entry of outside manpower.
He has also advised proper implementation of not only this initiative but also existing laws and rules.
He writes: “While this is a step in the right direction, I must highlight that Sikkim already has well-defined legal frameworks such as the Sikkim Tenants and Domestic and Professional Compulsory Verification Act, 2008, and the Sikkim Labour (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service) Act, 2021, which were enacted to address similar concerns. Unfortunately, despite these laws, the state has been unable to effectively curb the illegal entry of individuals, posing a serious challenge to the preservation of Sikkim’s unique demographic and cultural identity.”
He has also reiterated the demand for extending the Inner Line Permit system to Sikkim.
